Noticeboard

GP Extended Opening Hours Clinics

We would like all patients in our community to be able to see a local GP or Nurse when they need to. We have set up a network of GP Practices across the region offering extended opening hours for pre-bookable and same day routine extended access appointments. The GP extended opening hours service operates between 6.00pm-8.00pm on weekdays and 9.00am- 1.00pm on weekends and allows patients to be seen within a network of GP Practices at a convenient time and location, depending on availability, The service is forecast to continue until 30th September 2018.Call now to book a routine appointment 0333 222 6649.

Please visit our Appointments page to see the changes we have made to booking of appointments.

Appointments

Please ring our main telephone number on 01743 281950 to book an appointment. Alternatively you may wish to register for EMIS access online to be able to book appointments online. All consultations are by appointment only and times vary from day to day. Please say immediately if your call is an emergency.

Doctors will only see one patient per appointment, so please do not ask receptionists to fit extras in at the last minute.

We have a 'Touch Screen' in reception for patients to book in for their consultations on arrival at the surgery.

There are three types of appointment:

Same Day Appointments

These appointments are requested when a condition/problem is urgent and cannot wait until the next available appointment (see below). Examples of conditions requiring a 'Same Day' appointment would be a sudden onset or worsening of severe symptoms. All urgent cases are triaged by our GP's and Advanced Nurse Practioners and are seen on the day if needed.

Next Available Appointment With Any doctor

These appointments are to be used when a condition/problem cannot wait until the doctor of your choice is available. Examples of conditions requiring 'Next Available' appointments might be joint pain, indigestion, anxiety or sprain/strain/ache.

Next Available/General Appointment With The doctor Of Your Choice

These appointments should be requested when you wish to see a doctor for a problem which does not need attending to quickly, for the continuing review of an ongoing problem, or if you wish to see a specific doctor. As the doctor of your choice may not be available at short notice, it is important that you plan ahead. Our appointment books are made up two weeks in advance to help you. These appointments are available for you to book after 10.30am each day.

Extended Hours

We appreciate that for some patients it is not always possible or convenient to see a doctor or nurse within our core working hours, therefore we offer appointments from 7:30am on a Tuesday morning and Saturday mornings (alternate weeks).

In addition to our extended hours appointments Severn Fields Medical Practice are participating in the Prime Minster's Challenge Fund Extended Hours project. This offers patients from across the county the opportunity to see a local GP or Nurse between 6-8pm Weekdays and 9am - 1pm on Saturdays. Please note during these sessions operate on a pre booked basis by calling 0333 222 6649. For further information please select our Extended Hours tab above.

Practice Nurses

Nurses based in our practice treat patients for a wide range of common conditions. In a number of cases it might be worth considering an appointment with a practice nurse rather than a doctor. Practice nurses are qualified to deal with many ailments and you may be seen more quickly.

Telephone Advice

The doctors are happy to discuss straightforward matters over the phone. Please be prepared to give brief details to the receptionist and a doctor will ring you back during the course of the day. Try to avoid the busy times i.e 08:30 - 09:30 and 14:00 - 15:00. Calls may be recorded for monitoring and training purposes.

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else, alternatively you may wish to register for our online services which enable patients to cancel their appointments even when the practice is closed.

As from 1st October, 2018, we will be part of a network of practices (known as ‘hubs’) in Shropshire, working together to offer patients ‘Extended Access’ to pre-bookable appointments - in the evenings, at the weekend and during bank holidays.

Part of the national agenda by NHS England, Extended Access means patients will be able to make pre-bookable appointments to see a GP, practice nurse, or other qualified healthcare professional, at a time which may be more convenient for them.

In Shropshire, local practiceswill work together in a network of ‘hubs’ to provide this service. The ‘hubs’ will take turns to provide the Extended Access appointments to patients. This means patients could be offered an appointment at their own surgery or at a nearby practice in the local area (part of the hub). Patients will be advised about appointment location at time of booking, enabling them to make an informed choice about their where and when they access care.

Locally the pre-bookable appointments will be available as follows:

Weekday evenings (Monday to Friday) between 6.30pm and 8pm (at a local area hub)

Saturdaysbetween 8am and 1pm (at a local area hub)

Sundays and bank holidays between 8.30am and 12.30pm (at a single site in central Shrewsbury)

Arranging a pre-bookable evening, weekend or bank holiday appointment is easy to do - patients simply need to contact us, during normal opening hours, and speak to the practice receptionist or a member of the practice team who will be able to help. Appointments may not be with your registered GP but will be with a GP or other qualified healthcare professional.

Extended Access adds to the existing range of healthcare services already available in Shropshire to help patients, including pharmacists, NHS 111, the walk-in centre, minor injury units, and A&E (which is there 24/7 for life threatening serious emergencies only).

It isn’t always necessary to see a GP for minor and common conditions - find out more about how to self-care for these types of conditions on the Self-care section of the NHS Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group website (https://shropshireccg.nhs.uk/health-advice/selfcare/).

It is important to be aware of how long common conditions should take to clear up and always seek medical advice if you are unsure or if you feel it is an emergency.

Home Visits

Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible. In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 10:30. Home visits are made after morning surgery.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Please bear this in mind and be prepared to provide suitable details to enable the doctor to schedule house calls

You can also be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

Sickness Certificates

You do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Evidence that you are sick

If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).

It is up to your employer to decide whether you are incapable of work. A medical certificate, now called a 'Statement of Fitness for Work’ (see below) from your doctor is strong evidence that you are sick and would normally be accepted, unless there is evidence to prove otherwise.

You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.

Statement of Fitness for Work - ’Fit Note'

The 'fit note' was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer's support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.

Training Practice

We usually have a GP Registrar working with us who is a fully qualified doctor with three or four years of hospital experience and who is completing his or her training. We are also joined by final year medical students from time to time.

They work with the doctors here under appropriate supervision and you may be offered an appointment with them, either on their own, or along with one of the practice's usual doctors. All of these doctors at some stage will video record consultations for training purposes. Any such videotaped consultation is completely confidential and will be reviewed by the training doctor. Although you always have the right to choose not to see these doctors/students, we hope you will work with us to help train the doctors of the future. Occasionally, one of these doctors may be sitting in on consultations, but again this only happens if your permission is obtained.

Patient Information: Same Day Appointment / Telephone call requests

Every day we have appointments available to see a GP or ANP for urgent care. After these appointments are filled we offer a telephone triage system to allocate urgent appointments. Sometimes we are able to help over the phone, but if not we arrange for you to be seen on an urgent basis.

Please help us to operate efficiently by following these guidelines:

If you feel your problem is urgent and you need to see or speak to a GP on the same day, please call us before 11.00 am.

If the clinical team is fully booked and we need to allocate you an urgent appointment, we need you to tell us before 11.00 am to give us time to assess your case and find you an appointment.

Please tell the receptionist why you feel your problem is urgent and they will be happy to help.

If you need to be seen urgently, receptionists need to tell the triage team so that they prioritise your call. Receptionists can also signpost you to the right source of help for non-urgent problems. They are not being nosy – it’s their job!

Regrettably, GPs cannot respond to non-urgent queries, e.g test results, on the same day. Please wait to discuss test results with a GP in a routine slot. If results are urgent, we will contact you.

Reception may advise you that a GP has classed your results or follow up appointment as routine. This means that it should not be discussed as a same day appointment or telephone call. Please help our team by booking routine appointments if you are advised to do so.

All of our staff are here to help. General Practices nationally are under significant pressure and we appreciate that sometimes it is difficult to get appointments. We ask patients to work within the above guide in order to ensure that all our patients receive care that is safe and appropriate.

In an attempt to reduce DNAs and routine waiting times, Severn Fields Medical Practice have made some changes to the appointment system.

Effective now, we are transitioning to a maximum two –week booking system for GPs.

This means that patients waiting times will be shorter for a routine appointment and based on evidence from other practices, our DNAs will hopefully decrease. In the event that GPs are sick there will also be fewer appointments to cancel.